Destination Asie

Today we will finish climbing the pass in the Shah mountains and then descend back to the plains before ascending a valley close to the Serbian border ready to cross into North Macedonia. Its now autumn, the colours are increasing each day and it is cooler in the mornings.

The first pass is not so far and we note the presence of the UN K force at the top. On the descent, the dual language signs all have the Albanian part scored out and we are soon in a rather downbeat Serbian village. Its sad to sense the on-going tensions and provocations. New churches and mosques ring of one upmanship. Monuments are one sided and we hardly ever see a Kosovo flag without an Albanian flag beside it.

Pedalling on there is much smoke today with many fields being burnt off. Our plan is to rough camp due to lack of other alternatives. Attempt 1 is vetoed by Alice as having too much smoke. In the end we tumble into a small field down from the road just as light falls. We cook in the dark.

The next morning we are up at dawn and covering the final miles to the border crossing into North Macedonia just as it starts to pelt down. There is unanimous agreement that we might as well call it a day and hole up in the dry in Kumanovo town at the bottom of the hill.Читать далее

Unbeknownst to us, there was a huge fire in Northern Greece at the end of Aug 2023 shortly before we started pedalling. The fire was the biggest ever known in Europe and was burning for around 2 weeks with international teams trying to gain control. The fire started during an extended heat wave and was fueled by gale force winds. It burnt an area of 800 square kilometers, including more than 30% of the national park. It also killed 20 people, most of them thought to be illegal immigrants who had crossed the nearby border with Türkiye.

When we set off on our mountain dirt road we had no idea we would spend the next 2.5 hours pedalling through newly burnt forests. It is not what we expected a burnt forest to look like. Some parts are completely blackened and charred. Much of the forest floor is burnt and the lower tree trunks are black, but the tree leaves are still in place, some green, some brown. Being autumn it is hard to tell the difference between singed leaves and end of season leaves. There are pine trees where the bottom is brown and the top green - we think because of the high winds. We can’t figure out how much of the area will quickly spring back to life. Or how much is a massive reset. It is sobering and saddening to see so much destruction. And it smells bad. We are relieved when finally it ends.Читать далее